The following day, I had decided to visit the National Portrait Gallery, because they had a Pop art exhibition going on. The Gallery is situated in the centre of London, at St. Martins Place. Some of the painted portraits I could see at the exhibition was; Marilyn Monroe, painted by Andy Warhol, and Elvis Presley, painted by Allen Jones. The exhibition was divided into six sections but I thought that it was most fun to look at the drawings of the famous Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley.
When I had walked around in there for a couple of hours I went out to get some lunch. Then I moved on to the famous Trafalgar Square. Trafalgar Square is a very big square with a lot of history in central London and is one of Britain’s great tourist attractions. In the middle of the square there is a big column, called Nelson’s Column, surrounded by different kinds of fountains and big bronze lions designed and sculptured by sir Edwin Lutyens and Sir Edwin Landseer in 1939.
On the east side of the square is the St. Martin’s in-the-Fields church and on the north side is the National Gallery.
After a lot of walking it was very nice to finish the day by going to the cinema and watch a movie. I went to the Cranbourn Cinema, at Leicester Square and saw a movie called Ratatouille. It was a lovely Disney movie about a rat and a boy that together made a perfect couple in a restaurant kitchen. A lot of complications occurred, but of course a happy ending as always in Disney movies.
I was in a good mood when I went back home to the hotel and got to bed.
The last day, I hadn’t made up any plans, but the previous day I had found a brochure about Shakespeare’s famous theatre, The Globe, so I decided to go there. But first I had to shop the last things that I needed to bring home, and then do some packing. I didn’t have to leave the hotel before six o’clock, so I had plenty of time.
About twelve o’clock I arrived with the tube at Waterloo Mainline station, and from there it was excellent footpaths along the river that took me to The Globe. I had read the story about The Globe and how it was dismantled and moved on a boat over the river Thames during a single night. The Globe is open for the general public seven days a week. I spent almost an hour walking around, exploring the Elizabethan theatre which was from the beginning an open amphitheatre. It is today recreated to fit the modern London
It would have been great to see one of the famous plays like Romeo and Juliet or Hamlet, but at this time of the year it was only different lectures and classes going on in the building. So that had to wait.
After a lunch at the restaurant near The Globe; I headed off, towards the House of Parliament. The House of Parliament is situated at the north shore of the river Thames and along with the Big Ben clock tower. This house is the ultimate symbol in London. I took a seventy-five minute long tour through the Parliament, at a price of £3.50, which was quite a good price. I got to see treasures like; King Charles’s death warrant, the throne and the robbing rooms etc. It was really exciting. The tour was certainly worth the time and the money.
When the tour was over I went back to the hotel and packed the rest of my stuff. I had a couple of hours left before I had to leave the hotel and get to the airport (I had booked a late flight that didn’t leave until nine o’clock). Now I didn’t really know what to do. Then I got a brilliant idea. I could go and see a football game! I looked it up on the internet at the hotel, and booked a last-minute ticket to a match between Fulham v Blackburn River. I didn’t recognize the teams, but that didn’t matter. The game was held at Craven Cottage stadium which was the home arena of Fulham Football Club. I had read that the site of the ground had been built in the late 1700th century, and that it had a historical background. The ticket cost about £20 and the game started at 4 o’clock.
It was really exciting. The Fulham’s won with 2-0. It was a good match.
Afterwards, when I got back to the hotel, picked up my luggage and sat down in the bus, I looked back at my trip. Time had flown very quickly, but it had been a very fun and interesting week. I learned a lot of things.
I would love to go to London some time again!